Watery blue; scenes from the studio this morning and memories of Italy...

This week we're back in Brooklyn at our studios planning things for valentines day and gearing up for our winter course offerings.

Jet lag has it's grip on me, and at 7am I found myself bleary eyed in the studio practicing with a rather pretty bunch of french anemones. The winter can be a tricky time of year for making arrangements as many of the winter seasonal flowers are small - anemones, ranunculus, sweet peas...

In our classes we often discuss the importance of having large flowers anchor the composition. In winter, those larger, more voluptuous blooms can be scarce. This morning I remembered that an effective way to offset a host of smaller flowers is to balance them with large foliage:



These giant Mullein leaves (often mistaken for lamb's ear, and supposedly a good remedy for bronchitis and other chest ailments when prepared in a tea) helped me to anchor the smaller flowers; a mix of tuberose, iceberg roses, queen anne's lace and anemones. It's been so warm in New York, I still have curry plant and some grape ivy (though discolored) in my cutting garden so they got thrown in the mix.

Did you know that anemones, like tulips, continue to grow once they are cut? This means they drink more water then most flowers, so I'll have to top off the water in this vase every day.

Still more spots available in our anemone class coming up in February at the New York Botanical Garden.